SAVAGE "Bonnie and Clyde" killer Lee Whiteley must serve at least 14 years for the sickening murder of a former journalist, a judge ruled.

Reviewing the case, Mr Justice McCombe said that, under new and much tougher sentencing guidelines, Whiteley would probably have received a minimum jail term of over 30 years. But the judge said his hands were tied by the guidelines in force when Whiteley was convicted of Peter England's murder in 2002.

In what was described as a "ghastly" and "sadistic" killing, Whiteley, then 23, and his 17-year-old girl- friend Deborah Taylor stabbed 54-year-old Mr England at least 34 times in his Stockport flat on New Year's Eve 2001. Whiteley, from Barnsley, was convicted of murder at Manchester Crown Court in November, 2002.

He had earlier admitted a robbery and attempted robbery, both involving threats with a knife to small shop-keepers.